(Image Via Wikimedia)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s original stories, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, get all the attention and overshadow the fact that Tolkien is known in academic circles as an authority on Beowulf, citing the work as having a major influence on his writing.
He delivered a passionate lecture in 1936 on Beowulf's merits as a classic work, and this lecture succeeded in convincing many scholars to take Beowulf seriously.
Tolkien felt that Beowulf should be appreciated as a work of fantasy fiction, and not as just some silly vikings versus monsters story, and in 1926 he finished his own translation of the poem, a translation that would never see publication-until May 22nd, 2014 when Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary arrives in bookstores.
-Via Gamma Squad